Billy Elliot Chicago Pays Respects to West Virginia Miners
April 12, 2010
Billy Elliot Chicago tickets have been selling fast for the production’s run in the Windy City, but as the show opened this week, there was a tinge of sadness in the form of an insert in the program notes. The American miners injured or killed in the explosion in West Virginia were noted, and the cast and crew of Billy Elliot wanted the audience to know that they had “the families of the West Virginia miners in their hearts and minds”. Billy Elliot, set as it is in a British coal-mining community, set the story in jarring contrast to the current realities of the people who lost loved ones in West Virginia. Theater is very often a means to express ugly truths, and the question marks hanging over the dead miners were surrounded by the names of those who had died before them, a legacy of shame and exploitation that plagues a dangerous but essential industry.
The program also noted that the boy who is to play Billy Elliot Chicago is to be Cesar Corrales, a Canadian of Cuban descent who is the son of two dancers. Corrales has been described as a magnificent dancer, with an endearing and emotional appearance. Four actors will alternate in the role of Billy, and it is one of current theater’s most demanding, as a huge amount of dancing is performed. Corrales captivates the Billy Elliot Chicago audience with his reflective and authentic rendition of the English lad, with Elton John’s awesome musical score urging him on to ever more daring and original dance moves. Elton John was indeed there at the opening night of Billy Elliot Chicago, and he enjoyed some time before the cameras on the red carpet outside the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in the city.
It was a poignant evening in Illinois, as news of the missing miners trickled into the media and the death toll increased. The musical captured the mood effortlessly, and the notion of a young boy escaping the fate that befell his father and grandfather in a community that lives in the shadow of the pit was never more desirable. The music, as ever, was immensely varied and lush, and of course loaded with English humor. The choreography was second to none (some people even claim that Billy Elliot Chicago is superior to Billy Elliot New York!) and the latest addition to the honored list of Billies rose to the challenge amazingly well. We have a new musical star in Cesar Corrales, that’s for sure, and Billy Elliot tickets are going to be selling for a long while yet!
Comments
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.